This specification relates to an additive manufacturing system.
Assembly line manufacturing is a manufacturing process in which parts are added as the semi-finished manufacture moves from workstation to workstation. Different tools that perform different functions are stationed in different workstations along an assembly line. Each manufacture travels sequentially from one workstation to another and from one tool to the next to complete the assembly process.
One tool can be an additive manufacturing system. Additive manufacturing (AM), also known as solid free form fabrication or 3D printing, refers to any manufacturing process where three-dimensional (3D) objects are built up from raw material (generally powders, liquids, suspensions, or molten solids) in a series of two-dimensional layers or cross-sections. An example of additive manufacturing is Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF). Traditionally, FFF uses a single print head to lay down material, such as a plastic filament or metal wire that is unwound from a coil, in layers to produce a manufacture.